Day 5 & 6: Caring for Cambodia

These were our last two days spent in Cambodia and ultimately the purpose behind the entire trip. We used these two days to volunteer and help out at The Amelio School (built in 2003). Visiting the school as a small group (5 volunteers) allowed us to really get involved and make a noticeable difference for the teachers and administration of The Amelio School.

First we unloaded and reorganized all the uniform donations and toothpaste/toothbrushes made a shopping list of items the school needed more of. Between the children’s class sessions and during recess we were able to go out and play with them on the playground until they had to return to their classes. Right before school ended for the day the we were invited to sit in during the last 15 minutes of the kindergarten class. This was absolutely one of my favorite parts of the trip.

The kindergarteners were adorable and although they didn’t speak English most quickly became very friendly towards us and even allowed us to practice counting with them and play games. We spent our last day by getting an earlier start and completing our shopping list of supplies to donate to the school. After finding everything on the list we spent the entire day finishing different projects the teachers needed to help prepare them for later in the week. Finally we took a quick shower and caught our 6:30 pm flight home to Singapore. http://www.caringforcambodia.org/

Day 4: The Sunrise Children’s Village in Cambodia

We made an unplanned visit to the Sunrise Children’s Village (an orphanage in Cambodia operated by the Australia Cambodia Foundation inc.) “Sunrise is a non-religious organization with centers outside of Phnom Penh and in Siem Reap, providing shelter, food, clothing, education, medical/dental care, and vocational training, while nurturing the traditional Buddhist culture to orphans and disadvantaged children and youth in Cambodia.” We had passed by the center days earlier, but couldn’t visit due to the holiday so we decided to return (today) during the morning visitor hours and learn more about the organization. After learning about how the organization begun and where it was founded we asked if there was anything we could do to help. The gentleman working was grateful for the interest we had taken and showed us a list of supplies that need to be replenished. The list included items such as: cooking oil, canned fish, salt, sugar, oyster sauce, instant noodles, and diapers. We then spent the next couple hours shopping for enough supplies that would last the orphanage a few months. www.sunrisechildrensvillage.org

Day 3: The Floating Village in Tonie Sap Lake, Cambodia

The second day we visited the ‘Floating Village,’ a village entirely made up of people who live their entire lives in their boat located off the coast of Boeung Tonie Sap (Tonie Sap Lake Cambodia).  The Tonie Sap Lake is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia, but experience extreme changes in size depending on the season.  During the wet season the lake reaches nearly 12,000 km2, but during the dry half of the year the lake shrinks to as small as 2500 km2.

When we arrived the boats were arranged creating almost a canal through allowing others to float and conduct business/trading/selling amongst them. We hired a woman to drive us in her boat through the village, which allowed us to witness the daily lives of these people without interfering. It is so hard to imagine how these people live their entire lives on water without knowing a life any different.

Day 2: Temple Touring through Cambodia

We spent our first full-day in Cambodia doing what anyone tourist would gladly do, touring some of the most beautiful temples in South East Asia. In a single day we managed to visit 3 temples, one of which is called Ta Prohm, where Angelina Jolie filmed “Tomb Raider.” Unlike most Angkorian temples, Ta Prohm has been left in of the same condition that it was found: a photogenic and atmospheric combination of trees growing out of the ruins and the jungle surroundings.

After traveling all over Thailand, I had thought I had seen enough temples for a while, but I am so happy I didn’t let that stop me from visiting the temples in Cambodia. These were much different from the Thai temples which looked extremely gaudy in comparison to these Cambodian ruins made out of stone carvings and held together by gravity (not a single nail used). It was obvious that these temples were ancient because enormous trees had literally grown over parts of the temple leaving areas covered in moss and tree roots.

Day 1: Flight to Cambodia

My trip to Cambodia was much different from any of my other South East Asia adventures. This time we would be spending 5 nights in the same city. Prior to this excursion the longest we stayed in one city was no longer than 3 nights before moving on to another city or county… talk about travel ADD. We were also going with a friend of mine (Alexa’s) family friend Darla, her daughter, and daughter's friend. Alexa and I have only been living in Singapore for about 4 months, but Darla and her family moved to Singapore over 13 years ago and have been visiting Cambodia often. Darla had been involved with an organization called Caring For Cambodia and invited Alexa and I to join her as we send a week volunteering with Caring for Cambodia. Caring for Cambodia is a nonprofit, non-governmental charitable organization created to provide educational opportunities for children of Cambodia. The Cambodian Government requires students to be wearing navy and white uniforms to attend school, so our trip really began back in Singapore where Darla was able to collect donated uniforms from her children’s school in Singapore. In addition to the uniforms, we were fortunate enough to have Procter & Gamble donate over 1,000 tubes of toothpaste and toothbrushes to the children of Cambodia. Naturally we had to pack very light to allow us enough space in our luggage for the uniforms, toothbrushes, and toothpastes to Cambodia.

We arrived in Siem Reip, Cambodia early Friday evening. After connecting with our driver and traveling to our hotel we immediately ate dinner and made arrangements for the rest of our days in Cambodia. Our intentions were to go on Monday directly to the original primary school built by Caring for Cambodia, drop off the supplies and assist the teachers and faculty however they needed, but little did we know Monday was a Cambodian h holiday and the school was closed. So now we only had 3 days to spend at the children’s school, but on the bright side this allowed us a full-day to explore Seim Reip.

Day 7-9: Ko Phi Phi, Thailand

I think Ko Phi Phi (Phi Phi) was the most beautiful place I have been so far.  Before we left Krabi, the receptionist from the Krabi guesthouse we stayed at offered to arrange in advance our “pick-up” service with our next guesthouse in Phi Phi.  Collectively we decided it would be worth the few dollars extra to avoid the hassle of trying to figure out where we were going and how upon arrival at Phi Phi. We arrived in Phi Phi around 11-am after a 1-½ hour ferry ride from Krabi.  The Island was beautiful with white sand beaches and blue water.  We walked with all our bags to the end of the dock to find what we assumed was our taxi waiting for us.  We found a small Thai man holding a sign with one of our names on it and followed a few feet then he told us to “wait here.”  We stood and waited for him in the middle of what seemed like a busy market made up of tons of souvenir selling stands in every direction with very narrow walkways, we had no idea how we would find the little man and his taxi.  About 10-minutes later the little man comes back with a huge metal cart for our luggage, we thought that was very thoughtful of him to go out of his way to get a cart to take our luggage to the car when we easily could have carried it ourselves.  He directed us to follow him as he wheeled our luggage, about 15 minutes into our walk through the busy market area it occurred to us there wasn’t going to be a taxicab.  The “pick up service” we had arranged was in fact this little Thai man and his cart.

When we finally arrived at the guesthouse we were very grateful for his service because honestly it could have been hours until we found the place we were staying at.  Although small, the island’s central market/town area wasn’t easy to navigate through.  It was made up of narrow dirt roads and numerous sandwich stands, pancake stands, souvenir stores, restaurants, bars, adventure & scuba tours, nail & massage salons, and guesthouses. 

The next day was incredible.  There were about 9 of us (NTU exchange students in Phi Phi for recess) that also really wanted to go snorkeling so we were able to arrange a private longboat and tour guide to take us to a coral reef, Maya Beach (where Leonardo DiCapprio’s “The Beach” was filmed) and cliff jumping.  In total we each paid under USD$13 for the entire adventure (I don’t even think it is possible to rent snorkel gear in the US for under $13.)  The snorkeling was better than I could have imagined.  I expected it to be similar to the snorkeling I did in Indonesia, but instead we snorkeled in a large cove protected by the tall rocky cliffs (unlike Indonesia where we were out a bit deeper in open water.)  The water was calm allowing for excellent visibility and the ability to swim easily without being thrown into the coral.  Simply by skimming the surface of the water you could see a wide variety of brightly colored fish, coral, and other sea creatures you would only expect to see on The Discovery Channel.

Maya Beach was a little over-rated in my opinion.  I can’t say it isn’t a beautiful beach, but unfortunately the heavy tourism has subtracted from its natural ‘untouched’ beauty.  Maya Island is very small and doesn’t have any resorts hotels, restaurants etc., only one man lives on the Island, but offers the opportunity for others to arrange an overnight camp adventure and sleep outside in a tent on the beach.  

Only one guy from our group actually went through with jumping off the cliff, the remainder of us passed simply because the idea of hiking up a rocky cliff just to risk your life jumping down didn’t sound too appealing.  Luckily he made it up and down safely, completing our snorkel adventure in Ko Phi Phi.  The next day we took a late ferry to Phuket, ate dinner and flew back to Singapore very early the next morning, putting an end to our AMAZING recess break in Thailand!

 

Day 6: Krabbi, Thailand (Rock Climbing)

We arranged in advance for a ½ day rock climbing adventure tour for Manone, Alexa, and I.  To our suprize we were the only ones wanting to rock climb at 7:30am on a Tuesday, so we basically had our own instructor.  I still wasn’t feeling 100% better from Bangkok, but didn’t know the next time I would have an opportunity to rock climb in Thailand so I ignored the random chills/stomach pain and started my day.  Although in retrospect, rock climbing probably isn’t something to attempt if you are concerned you may have swine flu… luckily I didn’t!  The negative part of a 7:30am rock climbing adventure in Krabi is that everywhere that serves breakfast doesn’t open until 8:30 am.  So my first day rock climbing was ALSO my first day eating a microwave-oven ham & cheese sandwich from 7-11!

Our instructor drove us from Krabi town where we were staying to a nearby pier then helped us load the boat with all our rock climbing gear.  He took us to Railay Beach (an Island well-known for its beautiful cliffs and beaches) where we exited the boat and walked through the shallow water to the small beach at the bottom of the cliffs.  As he began setting up the ropes it began to rain, not a little rain, but tropical monsoon kind of rain.  Our instructor warned us before it might rain, but he said that the cliffs had an overhang that would protect the area we were climbing.  For the most part he was correct, but there were a few times when I was reaching my hand up above my head, not being able to see what I was reaching for and as soon as I think I found something I could use to pull my body up, my hand would reach deeper and suddenly be soaking in a puddle of rain water.  Other than the surprise cliff rain puddles, it was an amazing experience.  

The rocks we climbed were above a beach and overlooked the beautiful ocean.  After rock climbing we decided to spend the rest of our day at Railay beach instead of getting a ride back from our guide.  Another traveler told us that the beaches on the other side of the Island are supposed to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.  He wasn’t lying.  We walked a short path through the jungle, near the bottom of the cliffs, across the Island to the other beach.  What made this beach “the most” beautiful was that it had white sand then a few yard behind the sand was the beginning of the tropical jungle and the tall cliffs we climbed earlier ran across the Island, through the jungle, sand and into the blue water.  The contrast between the heights of the cliff next to the water below was incredible! 

Day 5: Bangkok & the "160 baht" picture

ONE NIGHT in Bangkok (23 hours to be exact)
We arrived in Bangkok and the first thing I noticed was how polluted the air was.  It was such a drastic difference from the air quality of Northern Thailand.  Our first adventure was to the Temple of Dawn.  It was a beautiful, large temple a few stops up the Chao Phyra River.  What was unique about Bangkok is their mass public transportation system consisted of several express long boats with color coated for flags representing their route.

The “160 baht” Picture
We exit the boat and arrive at the Temple of Dawn, as we walked across the lawn around to the entrance we see one of those cheesy touristy life-size pictures where you stick your head through the hole and walla you’re a monk standing next to your best friend who is now an elephant ready for your picture to be taken.  So of course we threw our cameras to some European tourist standing near by and the 4 of us stuck our face through the cutout holes for a picture.  As we left to collect our camera some Thai women ran out from behind the temple demanding 40 baht from each of us for the picture (that she didn’t take), we questioned her and she pointed out the tiny “40” at the bottom of the picture.  Later we saw that the women had a little lawn chair inside the temple within distance of her cheesy photo-opp where she can spy on who puts there head in the cutout and charge them 40 baht.
After accepting the loss of our 40 baht, we gathered ourselves and walked around to the entrance of the actual Temple of Dawn.  We expected to pay the standard 20 baht to visit the temple, but when I went to pay the women working informed me it was 40 baht, I wasn’t dressed appropriately so that would be an additional 60 baht to rent “cover-ups” and finally another 100 baht deposit for the “cover-ups.”  Exhausted from arguing over baht, we paid and prepared to walk up the steep temple.  That’s when we looked around and no one else required “cover-ups” and as if we didn’t already standout before, we now looked straight ridiculous, but ready for this temple!

After being scammed into overpaying for a few more temples we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. I had been feeling a bit unwell all day, but now I felt extremely ill and had chills. Swine flu-like symptoms and a 13 hours nap concluded my trip to Bangkok.

13 Reasons Why I LOVE THAILAND:

Fall Recess: Thailand

1. Thai food
2. Friendly culture
3. Less humid than Singapore
4. 1-hour Thai massages for $4 US
5. Most beautiful beaches in the world
6. USD$1 = 33.51 Thai Baht
7. Long boats are a common source of public transportation
8. Asian elephants
9. Gorgeous temples
10. Monks with iPhones
11. Worlds largest reclining Buddha 
12. Snorkeling so incredible it makes you bitter you live on land
13. More Thai food =)

Day 1-3: Chiang Mai, Thailand

Thursday: Flight from Singapore to Bangkok, then an overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai (Thursday night)

I wish I could say fall recess began smoothly but in all honesty it was the complete opposite. About 2 minutes into the bus ride to the airport I realized I never booked my plane ticket OUT of Chiang Mai, I completely forgot the 100ml carry-on container policy (goodbye bathroom products), was reported as a missing person (while seated in my assigned seat… long story), but things looked up as we departed from Singapore.

We arrived in Bangkok (1½hr flight from Singapore) and immediately took a cab to the train station where we boarded an overnight train to Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand). The train was surprisingly more pleasant than I had expected and actually significantly more comfortable than my NTU dorm bed. The train trip was about 15hours long, we slept for the first 9hours and had a beautiful view of the country all morning until we arrived in Chiang Mai early afternoon.

Chiang Mai is definitely one of my FAVORITE cities so far it’s located in the beautiful green countryside of Northern Thailand. All the people we met in Chiang Mai were so friendly, helpful, and happy. This was also the only city we visited that didn’t have people constantly trying to sell us something we didn’t need.

Day 3: Our first official full day in Thailand

We signed up for an “Adventure Tour” that begun with a minibus picking us up at 8:30am and driving us an hour out of town to an elephant camp. Seeing an Asian elephant was my number one goal for Thailand, I was so excited! Alexa, Manone, and I all sat on top of a very hungry elephant for a bumpy ride through the jungle. Our elephant snatched the 3 bouquets of bananas we bought to feed it right from our hands, then stopped every few minutes to eat the plants and again would reach its trunk back to us just to make sure we didn’t have any more food. It was cute at first until the elephant exhaled through its trunk into our faces.

After the elephant riding was over we hopped back into the minibus and were taken to a river where we rode bamboo rafts downstream, then a 2hour trek through the jungle to waterfall. During the trek we visited 2 tribes and saw rice fields until it started to pour rain (which made for a VERY muddy adventure back).

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The midnight meals with Malaysian students inspired me to plan a weekend trip to Kuala Lumpur (KL), the capitol of Malaysia. Traveling to KL consisted of bus, to MRT station (4 stops, then another 4 stops on a different MRT line) then a bus to the Singapore border, bus across the bridge to the Malaysian border, and finally a 4-hour bus ride to the city of Kuala Lumpur.  Upon arrival we immediately dropped our bags off and proceeded to find dinner.  I am embarrassed to admit, but instead of getting adventurous with some nice Malaysian cuisine we decided to play it safe with pizza from a reggae themed restaurant down the street from our hostel.  

We began Saturday off to an early start by taking the city bus to the Batu Caves Temple, a Hindu temple built inside a cave that sits 1000 ft above ground level, built in 1891.  I found the entrance to the Batu Caves Temple to be slightly intimidating due to the enormous (approx. 1000ft tall) gold statue standing guard nearthe first step and the fearless wild monkeys who literally grabbed food from visitors’ bags as they hiked 300 stairs to the top. 

The top of the steps made for a beautiful view of KL and further revealed how different Malaysia is from Singapore.  The city of KL appears generously dispersed over miles of flat land, opposite of its neighbor Singapore (the most densely populated country in the world).  Inside the cave we found additional Hindu figures and fearless monkeys.
 
On Sunday we visited the Petronas towers before heading back home to Singapore.  Overall this adventure was a peaceful, air-conditioned nights sleep and escape from our extremely humid campus life in Singapore. 

Six Suppers Across Singapore!!!

A friend of mine from Organizational Behavior class invited me to attend “NTU MSA Supper Hop.”  I tried to ask more information regarding what exactly that was, but he responded in a thick Malaysian accent making his English difficult to comprehend.  Basically I was able to piece together that I needed to meet at 10:30PM near the bus stop and we would be traveling around the country all night eating 6 “suppers” at 6 different signature Singaporean locations until 6:00AM.  I invited my Swedish friend Machala and my friend Emily from San Diego.  We walked to the bus stop around 10:30PM assuming there would be a collection of different NTU students from Singapore and exchange students.  Instead I learned my friend from class was also the president of the NTU Malaysia Student Association (MSA) and we would be joining MSA for supper!  

Initially, it felt a little awkward being on a charter bus filled with 50 Malaysian students who were curious about who we were, where we came from, and what we were doing here (since we obviously we were the only non-Malaysian students with the Malaysian student association.)  All awkwardness was soon gone and replaced with several new friendships.  This was definitely one of my favorite experiences because I truly got to experience a different culture. 

Meals in Singapore have always been a bit of an adventure.  Despite the fact the country’s primary language is English, their culture is a melting pot of Chinese, Malaysian, and Indonesian, so most of the food available in Singapore fall under one of those three cultures.  I am usually not one to shy away from trying new foods because normally (well in America) you can’t go too wrong, I have decided that it is possible here.  By “too wrong” I mean pig organs with a side of rice, fish ball soup, and chicken feet.  I felt a bit better about trying new food, knowing that my new Malaysian friends are recommending them.  My favorite dish was the BBQ stingray and squid.      

My favorite: BBQ Stingray